Good morning, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I have read that pilots of those early transpacific airlines had a red line on their charts called, “the point of no return.” Once the plane reached that position in its journey, the pilot was committed and could not turn back. This parable, so solemn in its meaning, has been expressed often in many different ways.
James Russell Lowell declared:
“Once to every man and nation
Comes a moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
Twixt that darkness and that light.”
Who can deny that? There comes a time when there is simply no way back, and the direction taken is the way you have to go.
Yet life is so arranged that if you lose one game, you can still play in another one. It may have to be a different game for a different prize. Many of you will be familiar with the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference.” It’s a good prayer, but it can be misleading. Is there really anything we can’t do at least something about?
I read a biography once about Jimmy Durante, one of the early stars of television. He was born in one of the poorer homes of New York City, and had an unusual countenance that would have meant disaster for most people. But the little man with the big nose used his liability as his greatest asset and won an undying place in the hearts of the world. It was the story of a loser who became a winner. Most of the time, too many of us conclude too quickly that some things can’t be changed.
You think you have made the wrong decision? So what? Everyone does that once in a while. We win a few and lose a few. But down every road of failure and defeat, there are lots of doors that can be opened to new opportunities.
The real winners are not always those who get to the top of the heap. The real heroes are those who may have to settle for less than the top, but who knew deep inside that they accepted the bad breaks and bad decisions and out of the wreckage salvaged something good.
The real winners are not those at the top but those who have come the farthest over the roughest roads. Your victory may never make the headlines, but you will know about it, and that’s what counts.
God blesses the ones who persevere,
Bruce Jones, Pastor Imagine Church
